The Sciences at the University at Albany, 1845-2006

Professor Jack Smith, Department of Physics

Jack Smith, seen at left, started college with the New York
State College for Teachers Class of 1943, but never graduated from the
college instead transferring to Cornell University because he had taken
every science and math course the college offered. From Cornell he went
to work on the Manhattan Project and was a witness to the explosion of
the first atomic bomb in 1945. Below is the condensed version of the letter
he wrote to Professors Andrews and Beaver describing the explosion and
predicting that it would be impossible to keep the details of the bomb
secret which was published in the State
College News, the student newspaper. Both the article and the original letter are displayed in the
exhibit in the Science Library. Smith returned to the University in the
1960s from General Electric as a Professor of Physics. Click
here for an administrative history of the Department of Physics.

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Exhibit curated by Geoffrey Williams, University Archivist
Research and design assistance by George Asante, History 499 Archival Intern